"Jeremiah," Charlie began in a soft ogre tone that anyone would assume was bad. "It seems you didn't explain the rules of this club to your dear friend Ali before you brought him here."
"I am so sorry, Charlie. He didn't mean anything. He just said he's just a bit confused. Excuse us for a moment." He pulled Ali from his chair and to a corner of the room.
"Ali, what are you doing? Why would you say that dude?" whispered Jeremiah. "These guys don't dig that, bro."
"Don't dig what, Jeremiah?" Ali said, quizzically.
"You mentioned his uncle—bless his soul. Why?"
"Dude, I didn't know he was dead," said Ali, wide-eyed. "Why didn't you tell me before you dragged my sorry ass here?"
"Dude, he's not dead, we just don't mention him, man."
"And why's that?" Ali demanded.
"Well, Charlie thinks his uncle was misled when he heard those howls because, you know, werewolves don't exist, so why gather people and tell them they do?"
"Jeremiah, the more you talk, the less sense all of this makes," Ali said. He was angry at himself, not at Jeremiah, for allowing himself to be dragged there.
"Ali, I was confused too, but I understood with time. All you need to know now is that talking about your uncle is forbidden. The school permitted him to make a club where students would be educated about the clinical disorder, but he went contrary to it."
"So Charlie's the one doing what the club is meant for?" Ali asked.
"Yeah, now you're catching up," Jeremiah said, sounding relieved. "Since everyone just wants to believe that werewolves exist, not everyone is allowed here."
"So, what about me?" smiled Ali. "You're so sure I don't believe werewolves exist?"
"Your answer at the cafeteria proved it."
Ali let out a tense laugh. "You were accusing me of being a werewolf. Of course, I would have given you whatever answer I gave you."
"What's done is done, Ali," Jeremiah said dismissively.
"So, it was all a test then. There isn't any rumor about a howl, or whatever."
"No Ali," Jeremiah said solemnly, his voice lowering, "that rumor is true. There was a howl at Old Maple last week. Remember yesterday, when I told you my eating group was dealing with issues?"
"Yeah, I remember. Go on," replied Ali. He was now very eager to hear the rest of everything Jeremiah was telling him.
"Well, Charlie's been trying to keep the rumor in check. He and the principal. It's died down a bit, but a few people talk about it in secret; in bathrooms and janitor closets, even on their phones."
"But who started all of this, who heard the howls?" Ali asked. The situation was getting tense, and his heart was thumping very fast. When Jeremiah motioned for him to come closer, he thought his heart would fall right out.
"No one knows!"
"Hey, you two!" Charlie yelled, causing Ali to jump back, startled.
"Are you two done making out already? We've already gone through half of the meeting and you two have been standing there for minutes."
Ali only just remembered that he and Jeremiah were still in a room with seven other people. Lyca, as usual, was snickering. Ali was starting to think he wasn't funny and she was making fun of him like he was stupid.
The rest of the meeting was spent explaining the disorder and reminding them that they ought to know the difference between fantasy and reality. It was more of an after-school program.
Ali was careful not to say anything at all. He felt listening and nodding when necessary was the best. His feelings turned out to be right because, after the meeting, Charlie walked up to him and took his hand for a handshake.
"Welcome to the club, young Ali. You've proven yourself worthy of membership to this club." Taking Charlie's fat hand, he felt young Ali was a very uncomfortable name to give him, even more, uncomfortable than the Indian name, friend.
He watched Charlie leave with his goons and felt a hand touch his shoulder. He turned and saw, to his surprise, Lyca standing right in front of him.
"Congratulations," she told him. And when he wanted to smile and say thank you, she added, "You weaselled your way in."
"What?" Ali asked. Confusion sets in. "What do you mean weaselled my way in?"
"You realize you didn't have to pretend to get into this club, right? None of us had to pretend just to be here."
"What do you mean? I'm confused, Lyca, please be clear," Ali said.
"Don't act dumb, Ali," Lyca said impatiently. "I know you don't believe any of the things they say here."
"I believe that such a disorder exists," Ali said, not knowing what else to say. "What about you? Do you believe any of the things they say here?"
"That's not for you to ask, Ali."
Ali wasn't sure why she was all in his face like he was the one who begged to be there.
"Face it, Ali," she went on, "you didn't like what we did today, so tell me why are you even here?"
"Jeremiah thinks the club will be good for me," he managed to choke out.
"I know you think this club is dumb, Ali, but a lot of us like this club, so I'd advise you not to mess it up for the lot of us." And she stormed off.
Ali wasn't sure why Lyca was mad that he got in. True, he thought the club was dumb, but he only thought it was dumb because Charlie kept condemning a lot of people that believed in fantasy. He even went further by saying Santa Claus wasn't real.
Everyone knows he's not real. It's just part of the spirit of Christmas and if Charlie was like that, it only meant his holidays were wack.
Jeremiah thought the club would help him make friends easily, but Ali knew the only reason he agreed to be at the meeting was that Lyca was going to be there. He wanted to find out who she was.
It was strange how he wasn't shy about talking to her. It was like his shy button was turned off when he was around her. But what was even stranger was that when he stormed off, a voice in his head called him a creep, Lyca's voice.
It kept replaying in the hallway as he raced after her, but before he could catch up with her, she had already entered a car with all the glass tinted and it zoomed off. He tried not to think about it.
"Why did you run after her like that?" Jeremiah asked him when he went back to get his backpack. "Did she tell you something?"
"No, she didn't," he lied. He had to lie because the last thing he wanted now was for Jeremiah to know he thought the club was dumb.
He got home a bit late, but luckily, his Pa wasn't home yet. He wasn't ready to answer questions about why he was home late, plus he had enough time to reflect on what Lyca had said and also had the time to forget that she might have messed with his head again.
He concluded she was either a witch or he was insane.
As he rummaged through the freezer looking for something to keep his mouth busy with, he tried to think of a way to apologize to Lyca. Apologizing was the only way to get himself on her good side. He wasn't sure what he had to apologize for, but since girls love apologies, he was going to give it a shot.
He was also not sure why he wanted to be on her good side; no one said you couldn't have an enemy in senior year.
Thinking of Lyca made him hungry and he knew what he was having for dinner; takeout from a very cheap restaurant. He knew because they had been eating that since they moved here and Ali was starting to seriously crave fresh food. Real food," as he liked to call it.
The word takeout had given him an idea of how he would apologize to Lyca; he would take her out, maybe for ice cream or an Açaí bowl.
He loved Açaí berries so much, and sharing a mashed one in a bowl with Lyca was the perfect idea for an apology. He didn't have that much money and with the little his mother sent him, he was trying to save up for college, but he would make an exception for the girl he heard in his head. Who knows, she may even go on a date with him.
But a date was too quick for someone he had just met. Ali's brain was working too fast. He had to start with an apology first.
But before an apology, he was going to start with a pre-apology by getting her an ice cream sandwich to school tomorrow. He could already picture her smiling face.